V
by NikkiMatthews
Summary: AU: Freshly graduated from high school, Santana Lopez meets a mysterious woman at Club V who will change her life forever. This mysterious woman has more than one skeleton in her closet. Will Santana try to maintain a life of normalcy? Or will she see how far down the rabbit hole really goes? - Brittana! Rated M for language, violence, and possible lemons in later chapters.
1. Graduation Day

**Author's Note: **

**Hey all, I'd just like to welcome you to the beginning of this journey. I hope that you enjoy what's in store. **

**Disclaimer - I do not own Glee nor any of its characters **

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**1. Graduation Day**

This is it, the big moment. Every day, every second of the past thirteen years of our pathetic, automaton existence has led to this. What is this? Well, this is where a geeky smart ass gets up on stage and gives a prolonged thirty minute speech about how we will all accomplish our dreams and how life will be filled with cupcakes and butterflies. Well I got news for you, my best friend Alice is terrified of butterflies, and this little picture perfect life that people all think will simply manifest because they will it to is just a formation of our imaginations; it will never come true.

I may seem pessimistic, but wouldn't you be if you had to sit in an uncomfortable wooden chair for hours listening to various speeches about how we made it through school only to go on to more school, and how we will accomplish all of our dreams even though we all know that that's bologna. So sue me if I'm not an optimist today.

Hey, then again, my friends and I are going clubbing tonight as a "So long, goodbye" to high school. So I guess that I can hoot and holler about that. Plus, I won't have to go to math ever again. I don't hate math for the usual reason "math is hard," it's more of a my-teacher-spat-when-he-spoke thing. I guess you could say that math class was like SeaWorld, you know, the first three rows will get wet. So that's another thing to hoot and holler about.

Oh look, Tweedledork is almost done with his speech, yay…I guess. Once the speech was done, everyone stood up, cheered, hugged the person next to them, and walked out of the stadium in an orderly fashion. After all was said and done and I was outside the stadium, I ran to my car, ripped off my graduation clothes and quickly drove to the club.

I know what you're thinking, God, I'm heartless, I didn't even bother to say goodbye to people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I am going out with the only people that I really care about so I will be saying goodbye. Plus, I don't care too much for goodbyes; they're always sad and usually completely fake. I mean, half the people who were all, "You have to sign my yearbook," I haven't talked to in the past four years of high school. I didn't want to have to deal with that all over again. Plus, that sea of blue and white graduation outfits (my school's colors) would make it impossible to find anyone. So, in the end, I think that my way of doing things is just fine.

It took about twenty minutes to drive downtown to the club that I'm planning to meet my friends at, Club V. It is said that this is the hot spot in town and it's an 18 and up club so we were excited to go. I arrived right on time and I saw my group of friends already outside the club, waiting to get in. I walked up to them in my not-so-high-school-graduation clothes.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" I wondered as I approached Alice, Kendra, and Tori.

Alice rolled her eyes, "The big guy over there says that the club is full and that we have to wait in line just like everyone else, but he keep on letting bimbos with big breasts and blond hair in by the dozens."

"Here, I'm going to go up there and see what's what," I didn't want to wait down here in line while a bunch of other people got to just waltz into the club like they're all that.

I walked up to the front of the line and looked the big-muscled bouncer in the eyes in a "hey look at me, I'm sexy" sorta way. He looked me up and down. I'm not big breasted nor blonde, so I don't know why he let me in, but he did.

"I am meeting some friends here," I explained. "So, when they get here, be sure to let them in too."

The bouncer looked down at his clipboard, "What's your name?"

"Santana Lopez."

"Okay, when they get here, I'll be sure to let them in," he smiled as he handed me his card. "And if you ever want to get together, you should call me."

"Will do," I lied. He was all big and muscular, but otherwise he was butt ugly in the face. All of that didn't matter though because I just go all of us in. I turned and walked into the building.

I pulled out my phone once I was inside and texted Alice, Tori, and Kendra that all they have to do is go up to the bouncer and give him my name and they can come in. I chilled out at the front of the club as I waited for my friends to walk in. I then came to the realization that the bouncer never carded me which means that he never gave me an X that says that I can't drink…SWEETNESS!

I then got a call from Alice.

"Hey, Alice, where are you?" I wondered barely able to hear her over the music.

"The bouncer won't let us in," Alice complained.

"What? Did you give him my name?"

"Yeah, he said that he won't let us in because we're too young. Apparently that thing about this being an 18 and up club was wrong. How you got in, I'll never know," Alice explained.

"Okay, I'll be right out, we'll go somewhere else," I sighed.

"No, no, no, you just got into the hottest club in town with the hottest people in town. You have a good time. We'll go out tomorrow or something," Alice said.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, well, I'll see you later mi amiga mejor," I said as I hung my phone up.

I didn't want to go out on the dance floor alone, so I decided that I would go to the bar. I'm not much of a drinker either, but it was better than the sense of patheticness that would follow dancing alone.

So I sat at the bar which was greasy and waxy and gross. I have squeezed my way into the "best club in town" and ew. Oh well, I don't really know what I was expecting. Then again, everyone in this bar is hot. The boys and even the gals, and I'm not even gay, or bi, I think. Eh, whatever, that's all nit-picky crap anyway. The way I see it, if you like someone, you go for it.

There were plenty of hot guys and two of them have already asked me to dance, but they were both Amber(crombie)-zombies and I totally draw the line at pink shirts. Because, like I said, I believe that if you like someone you should go for it, but I refuse to date a guy who hasn't come out of the closet yet.

A few seconds after I turned down the second Amber-zombie, a girl with platinum blonde hair sat down next to me. The girl smiled at me with the most amazing blue eyes I have ever seen, and said, "Hey."

"Um, hey," I replied.

"My name is Brittany."

"I'm Santana," I replied, wondering where this might be leading.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Brittany asked.

I smiled, but I'm not really sure what to think. I don't think that I'm into girls, but it could be a possibility. "Sure," I replied with trepidation.

"Blaine!" Brittany shouted. The bartender came over to us right away. Brittany held up two fingers. Blaine nodded and quickly grabbed us two beers.

"Thanks," I said after Blaine had placed the beers down.

"I've never seen you here before," Brittany commented.

I shrugged, "It's my first time here."

"You don't really look like you belong here."

"Uh, I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that," I'm not sure if that was a comment or a rude remark.

"No, I didn't mean it in a negative way. Most of the people who fly through here are very superficial. They try so hard to fit in and they're so fake that it practically makes me sick to my stomach. But you…you're different, you're real."

As if fate wished to prove a point, a man in a baby blue button up shirt approached us. "Hey ladies, how 'bout we go to the dance floor and continue this conversation with our hips," the man said trying to be suave.

"I see what you mean," I said to Brittany.

"We'll pass," Brittany then replied. The man walked away from us with a disappointed look on his face. Once the man was a fair distance away from us, Brittany and I broke out into laughter.

I looked up from my drink and into Brittany's sapphire blue eyes, "That was pathetic."

"Yeah, no kidding. I think that Mr. Muscle is getting reality and Hollywood mixed up," Brittany smiled. After a few seconds of silence, Brittany inquired, "Tell me more about yourself."

"I'm really not all that interesting," I commented. I really and truly live a fairly boring existence due in part to high school. I should avoid the topic of age because it would be embarrassing for Brittany to find out that I just graduated from high school.

"I doubt that," Brittany pushed.

I guess that I could just randomly talk and see how things go, "Okay. Well, most people believe that I'm a pessimist, but that's really not true. I just say it like I see it. Most people consider it negative, but if that's the case, then the world is negative, not me."

Brittany laughs, "That's how most people see me. Some people think that I'm hilarious, some think that I'm some sort of ditzy and don't know how to see the world in the right way."

I took a sip of my drink, "I don't really know what else to say. Um, I play the guitar and sing, and the latter still stands that I am a really boring person."

"What about your family, friends?"

"I have the most awesome friends in the world. I couldn't ask for any better. Then there's my family. That's another story entirely. My dad is an abusive ass and my mom doesn't seem to care. I don't feel like I really belong at home at all. I really just need to escape from the choking grasp of my parents. I can't wait until I can start living a life all my own…free. I just feel like this reality, where I live, who my friends are, is all just pulling me down. I don't always feel like I'm my own person, and I'm talking way too much and this is supposed to be a causal conversation not a one-on-one with a shrink," I said a little embarrassed.

"No it's fine. I thought that it was interesting. That's basically how I felt before I was adopted by my family. But my family now is great. I can trust them with anything and everything. I feel like my brothers and sisters are more like best friends than obstacles to overcome. It's pretty nice. I don't feel like I have to try so hard anymore; like I did before I was adopted."

"Maybe your parents should adopt me," I laughed shyly as I took a big drink of my beer.

Brittany did the same, "Maybe."

Brittany seems like a really cool person. She has a similar outlook on life to me and she seems to be the only one that I can truly understand and the only one who truly understands me.

"Do you want to dance?" Brittany asked as she stood up from the bar stool.

How could I refuse? "Sure."

Brittany took hold of my arm and led me out to the dance floor. I'm not a very good dancer, and I wanted to say the disclaimer, but I didn't. I figured that Brittany should like me no matter if I have mad dance skills or not.

Most of the songs were up-beat and didn't require a lot of physical interaction, but then a slower song came on. Then fear rushed through my veins. I figured that this whole slow dance thing can't be much, if at all, different from when I dance with boys. So I just played my part. Brittany wrapped her hands around my waist and I wrapped my arms around her neck. We swayed from side to side. Brittany is a few inches taller than me, which puts her around 5 foot 8. She is extremely beautiful; like one of those girls that you see on TV and complain about their luck in the genetic pool. I tried to avoid staring at her as we danced, but it was hard to know when I was looking at her too much, just enough, or not enough. Usually I just let the boys worry about all of this, but now I have to worry about it too.

I wasn't really expecting this tonight. I was only prepared for a night out with my good friends and for us to just act like idiots and have fun. Nope, that's not even close to what really is happening. I've met someone, not someone that I have to try so hard to be the ideal person around, but someone who seems to understand me. I never really expected for me to develop feelings for another girl, but I guess that things just happen like that. I don't really know how to put everything into words, but tonight seems oddly perfect considering that so many things have gone wrong: having to sit through graduation, the bouncers not letting my friends in, etc.

In the middle of one of the songs, the guy who approached us earlier at the bar approached us again. Except this time, he had different intentions. "Psh, I knew that my moves weren't rusty. You two were just too gay to party with me. If I knew that this was a gay bar I would have gone somewhere else," the guy laughed as he fist bumped his friends.

"Hey! I wouldn't be talking Señor wears a tight baby blue shirt," I yelled back annoyed.

"Ok Ellen," the man rebutted.

"Puck!" Brittany shouted.

A man came running over to where we are. "What is it?" Puck asked.

"Can you throw these guys out please?" Brittany asked.

The guy and his friends had dumbfounded looks on their faces. "Hey, wait! You can't do that!"

Puck, despite not being above average in size, managed to pick two of the three guys up by their shirt collars and said, "Watch me."

Puck then dragged the guys out of the club and threw them on their butts. The third guy just ran out before he got his ass beat by Puck. Puck walked back to where we are, "Do you two need me to kick their asses, because I could do that. Make your decision quickly before they run away."

"No, we're fine, thanks Puck," Brittany replied as she hugged him. "Thanks."

Puck smiled and walked away.

"So, who is he?" I wondered.

"Oh, Puck is one of my brothers," Brittany explained.

"Oh…" I didn't really know what to reply.

Brittany smiled weakly, "I actually have a confession to make…"

Oh crap. That's never good. Whenever someone says that they have a confession to make, something bad happens. Sometimes the world spirals out of control, off of its axis, but whatever may happen, it doesn't end well.

"…my family owns this club," Brittany continued. "My brother Blaine is the one behind the bar. I have a few other family members around here, but I can't see them."

"I think that's cool, nothing to be embarrassed about," I replied. I can tell that Brittany was a little apprehensive about telling me that she owns the club, but I just think that it's cool, nothing more, nothing less.

I feel like Brittany has been nothing but honest with me, but I haven't really been honest with her. So I decided to tell her how old I am. "I have a confession to make too. I'm only 18. I just graduated from RooseveltHigh School, today actually. Sorry, I thought that you might not like me if I told you the truth."

Brittany smiled and smirked, "I'm only 20. Don't worry; I don't think that there is anything wrong with you being 18. I was 18 just two short years ago."

"So…no big?" I wondered making sure that we are on level ground.

"No big."

"Good," I smiled. Even though I feel really comfortable around Brittany, I can't help but feel like I need to try more around her than anyone else. I'm so used to trying to be other people's idea of perfect that I've never really tried to just be myself. It's sad that trying to just be myself has become more difficult than trying to be someone else.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Brittany wondered. "I feel like I'm surrounded by family and…"

"Weirdness levels rising?"

"Yeah, basically. I just feel like if we stay here that I'm going to be constantly scrutinized by my family."

"Okay, where do you have in mind?" I wondered as we walked off of the dance floor.

We walked toward the front door, "I'm thinking that we should walk down to this park that is just a block or so away from here. No one's going to be there this late at night, and it's a good distance away from the family."

"Sounds like a plan to me," I said as we walked out the front door.

The jealous eyes of people waiting to get into the club followed us as we walked out. I wanted to ask Brittany how people get selected to come into the club, but I didn't want to bring up something that she probably has no control over.

It was a short walk to the park. It's a cute, small park for kids. I guess it has to be small though. There's not exactly a bunch of room in the city for huge jungle-gym complexes.

Brittany sat down on one of the four swings. I sat down in the swing next to her. Silence fills the air. There were only a few cars out on the road and, despite the city lights, the stars look like bright flames in the night sky.

"Are you really only 18?" Brittany wondered.

I wasn't expecting the question. I'm not sure if it's an insult or a compliment, "You talk about my age as it's some sort of disease."

"I didn't mean it like that. I need to work on my tone because a lot of what I say seemingly comes out of my mouth in the wrong way, but in my brain it was a compliment. What I mean is that you're not like most people your age."

"Thanks, I guess. The only problem with being 18 is that this age really does suck sometimes," I shrugged.

"Eh. How I see it, even when life seems like it sucks, life is only the beginning for bigger and greater things to come."

I smirked, "It sounds like you're talking from experience."

Brittany was silent for a moment. She then pushed her swing into mine, "Maybe."

The conversation was getting just a little too deep for me. It was ruining the awesomeness of the mood that I was in. "Okay, so want to see who can't jump the furthest off of their swing?"

Brittany seemed like she was caught by surprise. She practically burst into laughter, "Okay, let's do it."

Brittany and I started to swing. Once we were swinging pretty high, I counted off, "Okay, one…two…three!"

Brittany and I both leaped out of our swings. I have absolutely no coordination and landed in a roll. Brittany happened to do the same. In the end, Brittany ended up rolling on top of me.

I gazed into her brilliant blue eyes and she looked back into mine. Brittany moved a piece of hair out of my face and carefully tucked it behind my ear. She placed her hand on my waist. Her face then descended toward mine. Her lips conformed to mine and we kissed. It only lasted a moment though. Brittany then pulled her head away from mine and rolled over so that she is on her back next to me.

"Crazy night, huh?" Brittany wondered.

"Yeah, crazy," I said as we looked up, into the night sky.

"You're a pretty awesome girl Santana," Brittany said.

"You're pretty awesome too, Brittany."

"It's getting pretty late, do you want to start heading back to the club, or home, or something?" Brittany wondered after she had looked at her watch.

"Cute watch. Um, sure, we can start heading back. What time is it?"

"It's about midnight," Brittany stated.

My eyes widened in worry, "Holy crap, yeah, I need to get home."

Brittany stood up first and reached her hand out toward mine to help me up. Once I was back on my feet, Brittany placed her hand in mine and I wrapped my fingers around hers. We then walked back toward the club.

Once we were back at the club, I knew that we had to part ways. I didn't want to, but every night has to have an end. We stopped just outside the club where the line to get in was starting to die down.

"Tonight has been great," Brittany commented as we stood in front of the club.

"Yeah, it was…unexpected to say the least," I replied.

Brittany had a nervous smile on her face, "Um, so I was wondering if I could have your number?"

I smiled and without replying verbally, I pulled a pen out of my purse. I then grabbed Brittany's cold hand and wrote my number on her palm.

"I'll call you later and we can get together again," Brittany said as she looked down at the numbers.

"Sounds like a plan."

Brittany leaned down and we kissed again, but again, it didn't last very long at all. The second that it was over I had to bolt.

"I'll see you later," I said as I practically ran to my car.

Once I was back at my car, I quickly put my keys in the ignition and sped away. Luckily there's no traffic coming out of downtown at this time of night. I live in Hinsdale, which is about fifteen minutes away from downtown Chicago, but in traffic it can be about forty-five minutes away. I was lucky enough to get home in about ten minutes once I hit the highway.

I turned off my lights before I pulled up to my house. My parents would kill be if they found out that I got home this late. That means that getting inside through my front door is not an option. Plan B is to shimmy up to my window and sneak into the house. I'm practically an expert at this because I'm never good at keeping up with curfew.

I stepped out of my car and I walked up to my fence. I used my fence like a latter. I climbed up my fence and up still onto the roof of my shed. I then climbed from there to the roof of my house. It was an easy shot to my room's window from there. I climbed into my room and quickly got dressed into my pajamas.

While tonight was weird, it was fun. I feel like I'm falling for someone that I've just met. I've never had a relationship like this before. I feel bad about ditching my best friends on graduation night, but without doing so, I would have never met this girl who had literally changed my life.

I want to get to sleep quickly so that I can see Brittany again. I know that if time passes by quicker, then she'll call quicker. Then again, I never want for this day to end because I don't want to deal with the idea of such a perfect day coming to a close.

Plus, I am so wired from tonight that I thought that it would be impossible to sleep, but I was wrong. The second that my head hit my pillow, I was out like a light.

_The cold of the night air chilled my bones. I let out a breath and I could see a puff of smoke escape from my mouth. I'm only wearing my scantily clad pajamas in the freezing cold air. _

_ I'm alone in a dark place. I don't know where I am. All I know for sure is that I'm in the woods. The smell of musk filled my nostrils and I could hear the loud chirping of bugs and other creatures in the night. _

_ There is no moon out tonight, only the stars lit up the darkness. I just wanted the sun to come out. I'm not afraid of the dark, but I am afraid of the creatures that lurk in the dark. _

_ A low snarl came from behind me. I quickly turned around and backed up. I then backed into something. I screamed and turned around. Brittany is standing there. I wrapped my arms around her. _

_ "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here," Brittany said. I looked into her eyes. Her eyes are no longer an sapphire blue, they're a midnight black. _

_ "You shouldn't be here either. Where is here anyway?" I wondered a little terrified of what is happening. _

_ "No, I belong here, but you don't have to have the same fate as me. Get out while you still can," Brittany said she pushed away from me slightly. _

_ "What's wrong?" I wondered. I can't figure out what's going on and I just want to know what Brittany's talking about. I hate all of this cryptic crap. _

_ "We're in the world of the night." _

_ "All we need is for the sun to come up and we'll be fine," I said as my heart started to beat faster in fear. _

_ "The sun will never come up." _

_ Brittany placed her arm in front of me and pushed me behind her. I looked at the spot in the trees where Brittany is looking. I can see a pair of glowing eyes in the dark. The creature snarled. Brittany then turned and hugged me, placing herself between me and the beast. _

_ I closed my eyes in terror, but nothing happened. Instead of hearing the snarl of the beast, I can hear the pitter patter of rain on a roof above us. I let go of Brittany for a moment to see where we are. _

_ We're now under the protection of a gazebo. Rain is falling all around us in a rather violent matter. Despite the heavy rain, I can see the sun on the horizon. _

_ "See Brittany, the sun came up. The sun always comes up and always goes down, no matter what. Whatever's happening, it's not the end of the world," I said. _

_ Brittany placed her hands in mine, "I can never give you the normal life that you deserve." _

_ "Don't say that, everything will be fine," I still don't understand what's going on. I looked into Brittany's eyes which are now back to their normal blue. _

_ "You want this," Brittany said as she took a step away from me and turned around to express that I just wanted some normality. _

_ "Yes, this is normal, compared to whatever just happened in the woods, but I still think that we'll be fine." _

_ Brittany smiled weakly and placed her hands back in mine, "This isn't how our story will end. We won't get the storybook ending." _

_ "I don't need a storybook ending, I just need you." _

_ I then heard the snarl of the creature again. I wrapped my arms around Brittany afraid of what might happen next._

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**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading! Please comment/review this work. I would love to know your thoughts and opinions. =)**

**In the spirit of Glee, I will be posting songs with each chapter. The song for this one is "Everything's Magic" by Angels and Airwaves**


	2. Family Matters

**Author's Note:  
Hi all, thanks for sticking around for chapter two. I really appreciate the reviews and hope that you all like this next chapter as well. In this chapter we'll meet Brittany's family and we'll see some more characters from Glee make an appearance. **

**Disclaimer - I do not own Glee nor any of the Glee characters.**

Enjoy!

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**2. Family Matters**

My head snapped up and I awoke in a sweat. My breathing is uneven and I'm still trying to wrap my head around that dream that I had last night. I'm glad that it was just a dream though. It was a little too weird for words and I couldn't imagine actually having to experience anything like that.

I laid my head back on my pillow to get a grip on everything that happened. As I laid down, my cell phone on my night stand next to my head began to vibrate. I picked up the phone in excitement. I thought for sure that it was going to be Brittany, but it wasn't. Alice had just texted me wondering what had happened last night. I called her back. I'm not a big fan of texting, especially not when the conversation is going to be longish.

"Santana!" Alice practically screamed. "What happened last night? I _need_ details!"

"Hey Alice, um not a whole lot happened."

"Did you meet any cute boys?" Alice's tone became slightly disappointed due in part to my not-so-enthusiastic attitude.

I had to lie. I couldn't tell Alice that I didn't meet anyone because I met someone that has changed my life. However, I don't know if I'm ready to let my friends know just yet, about my liking girls. So I'm only going to lie about the gender/name of the person that I met. "I met this really cute boy named Brent. He's really awesome. It seems like we have a lot in common."

"How cute is he?" Alice's tone is more excited now.

"She's super hot."

"She?" Alice laughed.

"He…I meant he. It's early," I sighed.

"Okay, well you can tell us more about it later. Kendra, Tori, and I are going to the movies in about an hour or so if you want to come," Alice offered.

I sighed, "You crazy early birds."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, are you coming or what," Alice tapped on something really loud to pretend to be annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm coming. I'll meet you guys there in an hour."

"Bye," Alice said. I replied with the same sentiment and hung the phone up.

Great, now I have to give a crap what I look like. I hate when I have to do that early as hell on the weekend. This little movie adventure has forced me out of bed at – I looked over at my clock – holy crap, noon! I can't believe that they have the balls to get me out of bed before noon!

I rolled out of bed and took a shower, did my make-up and my hair, and got dressed. I then, however reluctantly, got into my car and drove off to the movies. I love my friends, don't get me wrong, but I was out pretty late last night and I'm pretty worn out. Plus, that dream that I had last night makes me feel like I only got a few hours of sleep, if any at all. I really want to just get some more sleep, but I also really want to go out with my friends. Plus, movies equals popcorn and I can totally go for some of that right now.

I tried to put on a fake smile when I stepped out of my car so that my friends didn't get the wrong idea. I had a great night last night and I want to be at the movies with them. I don't really know what's wrong myself. I know that the problem is due in part to a lack of sleep, but I know that it must be something else too. Maybe it was the creepy contents of my dream because that was weird beyond all reason.

I walked up to my friends who were all there waiting for me to arrive. "So what are we seeing?" I wondered as I walked up to them.

"It's called Broken Hearts and Shooting Stars. It's some Indie film," Tori explained with a smile on her face.

I shook my head, "I've never heard of it."

"We'll see how it goes," Kendra commented.

"I really want to know about your night last night, but if we don't get in the theater now, the movie will start without us," Tori said a little frantic.

"Okay, let's go then," I said as we all walked into the theater.

We all sat down in the theater, which is more like an ice-locker right now. I didn't even really have time to get popcorn which was upsetting. Luckily we made it to see the previews though, that's the best part of the movie.

The movie started about ten minutes after we sat down. The movie actually seemed to be interesting, but I can't seem to keep my mind off of Brittany. Every time I stop and try to think about what's going on in the movie, I can see a picture of her beautiful blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes in my head. Then I would try to hear the voices of the characters on the screen, but I could only hear Brittany's voice echo in my ears.

I must be sick because I can't get Brittany out of my head as if she was an infectious disease that won't go away. Okay, maybe that's a bad analogy because I don't really think of Brittany as a disease, she's brilliant and great in every way, and that's the problem. I can't think about anything except for her.

I wish that I had more memories of her in my head to go back to. I can only think of her in the club, when we were at the park, and sadly in my dream. That's all I needed though. I replayed those moments in my head over and over again.

The only part of the movie that I understand is that there is some poor girl that can't seem to keep her heart from being broken and on the night of a meteor shower, she wishes for a boyfriend and then nothing…I don't know what happened after that.

I didn't even realize when the movie ended. My friends all stood up and I stood up with them and followed them out of the theater.

"That movie was amazing! Screw the fact that it's an Indie flick, it was awesome," Alice exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was pretty bomb," I laughed pretending like I actually watched it.

"I'm actually thinking about seeing it again with my boyfriend," Tori pondered.

"It's kind of a chick flick, sweetie," Kendra stated.

Tori shrugged, "And he's coming with me."

We all laughed at Tori for thinking that her boyfriend is actually going to come with her to see this movie. I hardly watched any of it, but I watched enough of it to understand that it was a total chick flick that he would never go see it.

We stood outside, in front of the theater and chilled for a few minutes, discussing the movie and making fun of Tori. Then, of course, the topic of conversation turned to me and wondering what happened at Club V last night.

"So what happened last night?" Alice pushed.

"Not much, I met a really hot guy named Brent, but I've told you all of this already," I said not really wanting to elaborate.

"Oh come on," Kendra pushed.

"Okay, so he's really hot, really nice, he seems to get me, and he's not an Amber-zombie," I tried to keep things simple. I feel like I have to be so on all of the time around my friends. Plus, I have to lie to them about everything that happened last night. I wish that there was someone that I could just talk to and tell them exactly what happened and how I feel. Well, I kind of met that person last night, the only problem being that she's not here right now. I want to be the person that I was last night again, not the person that I have to be around my friends.

I pretended to get a call from my parents. I 'answered' my phone and said, "Hey dad…sure…yeah…I'm at the movies with my friends…yeah…I'll be home in a few minutes…okay, bye."

"Do you have to go?" Tori wondered as I 'hung up my phone'.

"Yeah, I'll catch you on the flip side," I said. I hugged each of my friends.

"Bummer, well, we'll see you later," Alice said as I turned to walk away.

"See you guys later," I said as I walked back to my car. I hopped inside my car and sped away. I just wanted to be home so that I don't have to pretend to be something that I not for a few minutes. As long as I don't have to run into my parents when I get home, I'll be fine. I really don't want to deal with them right now.

I walked into my house and bee-lined it to my room. I avoided my parents with ease, not that they were paying attention enough to actually notice. I walked into my room and plopped into my desk chair. I sat and twirled around and around just trying to avoid the anxiety of Brittany's call.

I want her to call, I really do, but what do I say? As much as I want to be my own person and fit in my own skin, I can't help but feel the nerves flow through my veins and burn like wildfire. I just want a clear cut way to be able to do things. I wish that in life there were actual solutions to all of the problems that we face. However, reality just isn't that kind.

Never mind all of this. I'll just call Brittany and take things into my own hands so that I don't feel like I've been caught off guard. I picked up my phone and looked through my contacts only to find that I had never received Brittany's number. My heart raced as I realized that I'll never be able to contact her unless she contacts me first. God, what if she's waiting for me to call her right now? That'll never happen. Crap…crap…crap…crap. Okay, I can handle this. How do I handle this? I don't even know anymore. My brain is moving at a thousand miles a minute and, like a runaway truck, there's just no way to stop it.

As if fate had managed to work some magic to calm my anxiety, my phone rang. Despite my need to know who is calling, I waited for it to ring twice so that it didn't seem like I am some sort of creeper waiting for the phone to ring. Even though… I guess that's kind of what I am. Whatever.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Santana, it's Brittany," Brittany's voice is soothing to my ears. I can picture her right next to me. It's like we're having the conversation face to face, not over the phone.

"Hey Brittany, what's up?" I wondered as I leaned back in my chair.

"Funny you should ask. My parents are hosting a party tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to come. They host business parties all the time and my siblings and I go and have our own party in the basement. So, are you game?"

"Yeah, absolutely. What time should I be there?" I wondered as I pulled out a pen and a piece of paper.

"The party starts at five. I'll text you my address," Brittany stated.

"I'll see you there," I said with a wide smile on my face.

"I can't wait," Brittany said and hung up the phone. I did the same.

On top of my enthusiasm and excitement, I also feel a little pathetic. I just met this girl and I'm already acting crazy when it comes to wanting to be around her. I feel like I'm going a little insane; not that I wasn't crazy before, but I just don't want to scare her off.

Okay, so it is three thirty right now. I need to be at the party at five. So I have about an hour to get ready. I walked around my room and pulled out a bunch of clothes. I figured that my hair and makeup are as good as they're going to get, but I needed to pick out something amazing to wear.

I finally landed on a hot maroon shirt and some dark blue jeans. It's not much different than what I wore earlier today, but I feel more confident in wearing this than the former.

Now it's time for the grand master to make her decision. I walked out of my room and found my mom in her office.

"Hey mom," I said a little wearily.

My mom sighed, "What do you want?"

"Um, is it okay if I go to my friend's house?"

"Why?"

"She's having a party and she invited me."

"Who is this friend?"

"Brittany."

"Okay, just don't be out too late."

I sighed with relief, but then my father came into the room and said, "No."

"What do you mean no?" I complained.

"You were just out last night, you're not going out again tonight," he attempted to justify his decision.

"Mom," I tried to use her as the voice of reason.

"If your father says no, then the answer is no," my mom said.

I couldn't believe that they're not going to let me go out. I marched out of the office. Gah, this makes me so angry. I really want to see Brittany and I don't want to tell her that I can't come because I couldn't convince my parents. Okay, that settles it. I'm going to that party one way or the other. If that means that I have to sneak out, then so be it.

I quickly made my way back to my room to make last minute adjustments on my wardrobe and hair and makeup. I printed the directions to Brittany's house and stuffed them into my pocket. I then grabbed my purse and snuck out of my house in the opposite fashion of how I snuck in last night. I quickly and quietly left my house and drove off toward Brittany's.

Her house is a few minutes north of Chicago. I drove around her neighborhood, gazing in amazement at all of the houses. This neighborhood is full of mansions that can probably fit about three of my houses inside of it, if not more.

I finally pulled up to Brittany's house which is probably the biggest house out of them all. I parked my car in the only available spot left on the street in front of her house. I then walked up her long driveway. The house is made of dark stucco and has a lot of dark colored stone on the house. I knocked on the door and I was greeted by Brittany.

"Hey!" Brittany said with excitement as she wrapped her arms around me. "I'm glad that you came."

"Yeah, me to," I smiled.

Brittany then let go of me and invited me into her house. I walked inside and the inside of her house is even more magnificent than the outside. The entire inside of her house was composed of a dark colored wood that looked like something out of a Hollywood movie. As I walked through the house, hand-in-hand with Brittany, we passed through a crowd of people; everyone there was thirty years old or older.

"I can see why you wanted me here," I said as we continued through the crowd.

"Yeah, these parties are usually a snooze fest. Business stuff, whatever," Brittany laughed as she opened a door and escorted me through it.

We then walked down a long staircase and ended up in what seemed to be the basement, even though it was _way_ too nice to be a basement. The basement is set up like a game room. There is an air hokey table, pool table, bar, a huge couch and TV, and slot machines.

"Your house is my new favorite place," I smiled as I walked through her basement. There were already some people in her basement and I know two of them. I recognized Puck and Blaine, but there were some new faces in the crowd as well.

Brittany walked over to where Puck and Blaine are playing air hockey against each other. "Puck and Blaine, this is Santana. Santana, these are my brothers Puck and Blaine.

Blaine has a medium build and a little shorter than average. He has jet black hair full of grease. He was the one who was serving drinks last night at the club. Puck is muscular and much taller than Blaine. He has chocolate brown hair that's buzzed into a Mohawk. Puck is the one who threw the guys out of the club for us last night.

"It's nice to formally meet you, you know, when I'm not beating people up," Puck smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for that," I laughed trying to be as friendly as I possibly could be.

"I just wish I could have been there to take care of those jerks," Blaine said as he fist bumped Puck.

Brittany just rolled her eyes at them. Brittany then led me to two others who are sitting on a window seat talking to each other. "Quinn and Kurt, this is Santana. Santana, this is my sister Quinn, and brother Kurt."

"It's nice to meet you," I said. Quinn didn't seem to really have much interest in me at all. She basically just glared at me the entire time I stood there.

Quinn has long blond hair. She is short and very skinny. Kurt, on the other hand, has brown hair flipped out in the front and is of average height and weight.

"It's nice to meet you too! Brittany has been talking about you all night," Kurt practically giggled. I'm not sure if I'm gay, but my gaydar is flashing bright red for this boy. He's fabulous.

Brittany punched Kurt in the arm and said, "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Whatever you want is fine with me."

Brittany walked over to the pool table because the boys were occupying the air hockey table. I don't really know how to play pool, but it looks easy enough.

"You look worried," Brittany smirked.

I shrugged, "I've never really played pool before. You might have to walk me through this."

"I don't mind," Brittany smiled.

Brittany then grabbed two pool sticks off of the nearby wall. She handed me one and set hers down to place the balls in the right position. I have no clue what she's doing, but it looks like it's the right thing.

"Do you want to be stripes or solids?" Brittany asked.

"Solids," I replied unsure of what the difference was.

"Okay, so your goal is to hit all of the solids into the pockets before I hit all of the stripes into the pockets. Do not hit the eight ball into a pocket until all of the other balls have been hit into pockets. The person to hit the eight ball into a pocket after hitting all of their respective balls into the pockets wins. Are you with me so far?" Brittany wondered as she examined the confused look on my face.

"Yeah," I stated. It seemed easy enough.

"I'll break," Brittany said as she placed the white ball on the other side of the pool table from the rest of the balls. She then hit the ball with some force and the balls on the other end scattered in all different directions. No balls went into any pockets.

"Okay, so what do I do?" I wondered as I picked up my stick.

Brittany walked over to me. "Are you right handed?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Okay, put the stick in your right hand," Brittany commanded as she positioned herself behind me. I could feel Brittany's hot breath on my neck and it made me quiver.

"What was that thing that you did with your other hand when you hit the ball?" I wondered as I placed my hand on the table.

"That just helps you to aim," Brittany replied. Brittany adjusted my hand and placed the stick in between two of my knuckles. She held my hand on the table with her left hand. Brittany also had her right hand on the stick.

"So do I just hit it?" I wondered barely able to keep my focus on the game in our current position.

"Basically, yeah. You want to measure the amount of force based on how far the ball needs to travel. Those dots on the table are what people use to make advanced shots, but you don't have to use them if you don't want to."

"I don't think that I'll be doing anything advanced anytime soon, so I won't worry about those," I laughed at myself.

Brittany then said, "Now lightly pull back and try to hit the ball in the center." Brittany pulled the stick back with me and trusted it forward and hit the queue ball. That ball then hit the orange colored solid ball and it went into one of the pockets.

"I did it!" I exclaimed as I set the stick down and whirled around. I wrapped my arms around Brittany in excitement. Brittany pulled away from my grasp slightly and looked into my eyes. She then leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips.

She pulled back and smiled, "Yeah, I told you that it was easy."

"Beginners luck," Quinn commented from the window seat.

"Do you want to play?" I wondered. I can tell that Quinn doesn't like me. I don't know what I could have done to make her dislike me, but I really wanted to change that. I really like Brittany and I know that her family is a close knit bunch. Therefore, I want Brittany's family to be okay with the idea of me.

"Sure, we'll do teams. Come on Kurt," Quinn said as she stood up.

Brittany gave Quinn a mean look. Kurt then said, "I'll be on Santana's team."

"It's your turn, Santana," Quinn pushed as she grabbed a stick.

I then took my second shot. It didn't go as well as the first shot that I took. I managed to hit a solid colored ball, but it really didn't go anywhere.

"My turn," Quinn said as she looked at the table. She then hit the queue ball and two stripped balls went into different pockets. She continued to hit the balls and one-by-one each ball went into a pocket. Finally the only ball left was the eight ball. She then hit that ball into the pocket and ended the game. Kurt never even got to play.

The entire time that Quinn hit balls into the pockets, Brittany had given her an evil glare. I didn't know why. Quinn is a good pool player, she should get an award, not be glared at.

"You're amazing," I said after the eight ball was hit in.

"I know," Quinn said as she put her stick back up on the rack and walked back to the window seat and sat down.

"Just ignore her, we all do," Brittany said as she wrapped her arm around my waist. She rubbed her hand up and down my side making me lose any train of thought that I might have been having.

"Um, I-I'm sorry that you didn't get to play," I said to Kurt.

"Eh, it's okay. I live here, I can play whenever I want," Kurt shrugged it off.

"Maybe if your little girlfriend was a little bit better then Kurt would have gotten the chance.

"What is your problem Quinn?" I could tell that Brittany was about to throw down with Quinn.

Quinn stood up practically yelled, "You know what my problem is!" Quinn then stormed out of the basement and up the stairs.

"Stay down here while I take care of this," Brittany said as she ran up the stairs behind Quinn.

"Brittany, it's not a big…" but I was too late, she was already halfway up the stairs.

"I'm sorry about that, I can't help but feel responsible," I said to Kurt.

Kurt walked over to stand next to me. "It's not you sweetie. You're a nice person and we all know that. The problem is that Quinn is a little bit of a bitch when it comes to losing her sister to someone else. That's kind of how it is with us, we are just really close. So don't take it personally if we act a little weird," Kurt comforted.

"I just don't want to cause problems for Brittany and your family," I said with a look of worry spreading across my face.

"It's not a big deal, really."

Blaine walked over to us, "So what's Quinn's problem?"

"Me apparently," I sighed.

"Ignore her," Blaine said. "She's like this sometimes."

"I just hope that I'm not doing anything to hurt your family."

"It's not your fault. You are pretty awesome from what I gather," Blaine said with a growing smile on his face.

"And any friend of Brittany's is a friend of ours," Puck assured me.

"Thanks," I said as I looked toward the stairs to see if Brittany was coming.

Blaine patted my back, "You really like her, don't you?"

I looked down a little embarrassed, "Am I that obvious?"

"Just a little, but I think that it's cute, and I'm glad that Brittany finally has a girlfriend that she can count on. I know that she really likes you and the fact that you really like her back makes you apart of the family as far as I'm concerned," Blaine stated. I wanted to interject that we aren't girlfriends, at least not yet, but Brittany walked back down the stairs. As soon as Brittany was at the bottom of the stairs Kurt, Blaine, and Puck all dispersed.

Even though all of Brittany's siblings are being nice to me I still can't help but feel like they don't really like me nor feel comfortable around me. They are all basically avoiding me and I don't really feel like I belong.

"You'll have to excuse Quinn, she's a little bit of a jerk sometimes," Brittany stated as she wrapped her hand in mine.

"She hates me, doesn't she?" I wondered. I just wanted to know the truth so that I could figure out how to fit in with this family.

"No…yeah…sort of…don't pay any attention to her," Brittany sighed as she ran her hand down my arm.

"Do you know what I did wrong? I just want to mend the wound before she hates me forever," I said. Wow, I don't know how Brittany managed to do it, but I totally don't sound like myself right now. I've never cared this much about what someone thinks about me before. Usually I'd just tell someone like Quinn to shove off, but I can't seem to muster that typical snarky energy right now.

"It's not really you that she had a problem with. It's me. She doesn't like the idea of me having a girlfriend," Brittany attempted to comfort me. "Do you want to go somewhere else?" Brittany changed the subject.

"Where do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking my room. It would be far enough away from here to avoid the melodrama," Brittany laughed.

I laughed with her, "It sounds like a good idea."

Brittany led me back up the stairs, through her house, up some more stairs, down a hall, and up some more stairs. Seriously, these people have a LOT of stairs. We then entered her room. Brittany's room is huge and is painted a light blue. Her entire room is decorated with blue, but all of the wood fixtures matched the dark wood of the rest of the house.

"Have I told you how much I like your house?" I asked rhetorically as I looked around her room.

"Only a few times, but not in the past five minutes, no," Brittany smirked.

I'm really glad that I get to just be alone with Brittany. Her family seems nice enough, but I think that only half of them actually like me. Plus, there just seems to be something off about them. I can't quite put my finger on it, and I feel bad about saying that there's something off about them, but it's true.

"I don't know if I've ever told you this, but you're really beautiful," Brittany commented as we sat down on her queen sized bed together.

I blushed, but thank goodness I'm Hispanic – it hides a bit of the bashfulness written all over my face. "Thanks, you're beautiful too, far more so than me."

Brittany caressed my face with her hand and then pulled my face toward hers. It felt like the world moved in slow motion. I could feel the softness of her lips, grazing mine for a moment before our lips fully molded together. We've only kissed a few times so far and each has been short and sweet, but this was far more passionate and while everything felt just right, I couldn't help but feel like we were taking things just a little too fast. My brain said no, but my heart said screw you brain.

I lightly sucked Brittany's bottom lip. She tastes so wonderful. I could sit here and kiss her all day. I felt Brittany's tongue grace my lip asking for permission which I instantly granted. Our tongues danced together in the most breathtaking way. My head felt light from the euphoria of the moment.

Brittany pushed me lightly and I took the hint and lied down on the bed. Brittany then laid down on top of me. She placed one of her hands on my waist and kept the other on my face just under my chin. I wrapped one of my hands around Brittany's back and the other behind Brittany's head. She pushed up against me as we continued to kiss.

However, everything was cut short when the door was opened by Quinn. Brittany quickly got off of me and I quickly sat upright.

"I need to talk to you," Quinn said to Brittany.

I thought that I had blushed a bright red when Brittany said that I was beautiful, but I blushed a whole new shade of red when Quinn saw us like that.

"Sorry," I said. I didn't really know what else to say. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind for ruining such a perfect moment. She really should have knocked or something. But, I want for Brittany's family to like me, and if that means zipping my lips, then so be it.

Brittany turned to me and said, "I'll be back in a second." Brittany kissed my forehead and stood up and left the room.

If Quinn didn't like me before because I'm with her sister, seeing what she just saw didn't help my case at all. I'll never be able to get Quinn to like me, or hell, just not hate me.

Brittany then opened the door again, "I can't seem to apologize enough for her."

"It's not a big deal, but my embarrassment levels have been slowly rising since I've been here," I giggled to myself.

"So…" Brittany stated.

"So…" I replied.

Almost in unison we both said, "I think we should slow things down."

We both laughed. "Yeah, I think we should just take it down a notch or two," Brittany stated.

"I agree," I nodded.

"Maybe we can do twenty questions," Brittany said.

"Um, okay," I was taken by surprise, that's a really lame game.

"Not like the stupid game, I mean just ask each other questions to get to know each other better," Brittany laughed.

"Oh, okay, that I'm more up for."

"Okay, so what's your favorite color?" Brittany began.

I didn't even have to think about it, "Red, you?"

"Yellow. What is your favorite type of food?"

"Wait, your favorite color is yellow? No one's favorite color is yellow," I smirked.

"It's the color of chicks and ducks and, hey you never answered my question"

"Italian, especially from that one place on the north side called Breadstix, yours?"

"Same! I love Breadstix! I mean, they just never stop bringing you bread sticks," Brittany smiled.

"One time I brought a wheelbarrow with me and told them to fill it up and they had to do it."

"That's a great idea. I wish I was smart enough to think of something like that. What's your full name?"

"Santana Marie Lopez, yours?"

"Brittany Susan Pierce. Do you play and instruments or sports or have any hobbies?"

"Yeah, I play the guitar and sing. I was also on the Cheer Squad at my high school."

"I don't really play any instruments, but I like to sing and dance. I like to do motocross and swim too, but I don't count that as a sport when I only go down to my pool to chill," Brittany laughed at herself.

"I think it should count. Plus, you're the only person that I know who does motocross," I said as I wrapped my arm around Brittany.

Brittany leaned her head against my shoulder, "So, my family didn't drive you away or anything did they?"

"I'm still here," I replied.

"Good, because I would have had to kill Quinn, and that's just something that I really wouldn't want to do."

"Your family is fine, really. Family is always supposed to be there for you and I think that it's great that they care enough to be concerned," I said. I know that there's more to it than that with her family because, like I said, I can tell that something is a little off about them, but that's where I'm going to leave it.

"You're the best. Generally when I bring someone home, they run away. I'm not used to actually having a stable relationship."

I ran my hand down Brittany's side, "Your family is going to have to try a little harder than that to drive me away."

"Thanks for being so cool with everything," Brittany said as she leaned her head up and kissed me. It was a Goldilocks kiss, not short and sweet, but not passionate either, it was just right.

I then looked over at the clock on Brittany's night stand. It's about eight at night. "I better get going before my parents realize that I'm gone."

"You didn't tell them that you were coming over?" Brittany wondered.

I immediately defended myself, "No, I told them. They just said that I couldn't come over. So, naturally, I snuck out."

"Awe, you snuck out for me?" Brittany said like I had done something awesome for her. I really didn't think that it was a big deal at all.

"Yup, and I'll do it again," I said as I stood up.

"That's really sweet," Brittany said as she wrapped her hand in mine.

"Sorry that I have to get going so early, but if they catch me gone, it's my butt on a skewer," I said a little worried.

Brittany opened her door, "I'll escort you out."

I smiled at Brittany and she smiled back at me. I really couldn't ask for a better significant other. This girl actually understands me, is awesome about everything, and is absolutely perfect in every way.

We walked slowly toward the door as if we didn't want for things to end. I really didn't want for things to end at all, but every good thing comes to an end. Then again every end produces a new and better beginning, so who knows what tomorrow might hold. Awe, look at me getting all poetic. I sound like a bad 90's song.

We were finally at the front door and Brittany held both of my hands in hers. "I had a really great time today," I said as I caressed her hand.

"Me too," Brittany said as she leaned down and kissed me.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I wondered.

"Tomorrow sounds good," Brittany said as I let go of her hands and walked out to my car. I looked back at the door. Brittany is still standing in the doorway. I smiled at her and waved as I slipped into my car.

I then drove back home and hoped that my parents didn't notice that I was gone, because then all hell would break loose. Once I was home I snuck back into my room in the same fashion that I snuck back in yesterday, or this morning, whatever. The good thing is that, in the end, my parents had no clue that I was gone. They're completely oblivious.

It's about nine at night, and while I usually don't go to sleep this early, I decided to call it a night. I've had a long couple of days and I just need some sleep. I quickly got dressed into some pajamas and I flung myself into my bed. No sooner than I shut my eyes, I slowly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

_I am walking on a damp, muddy path that leads to a gigantic castle. I don't know why, but I had an urge to follow the path. _

_ The scenery looked like something straight out of an episode of Scooby-Doo. Lightning stuck behind the castle and loud roars of thunder rang in my ears. The screeching of different animals rang throughout the woods and made me move just a little quicker toward the scary castle. _

_ Once I approached the door, it opened. I didn't need to knock or anything. I walked through the open door and through the ancient hallways. The castle smelt of must and rain leaked in through the stone walls. _

_ At the end of the large hall, there was a door. I walked up to the door, but it didn't open like the main door. I lightly knocked on the door, hoping that I would find some sort of life in this sad looking place. _

_ The door opened and standing in the middle of the room is Brittany. I wanted to just run up to her and hug her, but she isn't looking in my direction. I can only see the back of her head. _

_ "Brittany?" I called as I walked toward her with caution in each step. _

_ "No, Santana, don't come any closer," Brittany commanded. _

_ I stopped dead in my tracks, "What's wrong?" _

_ "You can't see me like this," Brittany said unmoving. _

_ Laughter filled the small room, but neither Brittany nor I were laughing. I looked around the room and noticed that I was surrounded by Brittany's siblings. _

_ "Um, hi guys," I said with a lump in my throat. _

_ "Why don't you want her to see you like this, Brittany?" Quinn inquired. "It's who you really are." _

_ "Shut up," Brittany warned. _

_ "She should know, Brittany. She deserves to know what she's getting herself into," Puck followed. _

_ "No, not yet, she doesn't have to know," Brittany repeated. _

_ "I'm standing right here!" I shouted. I hate when people talk about me like I'm not there when I'm standing in the middle of things. I mean seriously, who do Britt's siblings think they are?_

_ An evil grin grew across Quinn's face, "If you won't tell her, I will." _

_ "Don't!" Brittany said as she turned around. _

_ I could see Brittany's face for the first time since I've been here. Her eyes are black like in the woods in my dream last night, but now she also had long, sharp canine teeth. I looked around at Brittany's siblings, a little terrified. Everyone's eyes and teeth are the same as Brittany's. I took a step back getting ready to run. _

_ "No, Santana, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Brittany said as she took a step toward me. _

_ I stopped moving backward. Although I am absolutely terrified of Brittany's siblings, I can't be afraid of her. Even though it looks like she could kill me right now if she wanted to, I know in my heart that she wouldn't. I took a step forward to let Brittany know that I'm not afraid. _

_ Brittany continued to cautiously walk toward me until she is face to face with me. "I'm sorry," I practically whispered. "I shouldn't have doubted that you wouldn't hurt me. I was just a little scared. I'm sorry." _

_ "It's okay, I was expecting a worse reaction," Brittany stated as she wrapped her arms around me. _

_ "I'm still a little afraid of your siblings," I said even quieter. _

_ Brittany shrugged, "Me too." Brittany still didn't let go of me. _

_ "So, not to be offensive, but what are you guys?" I wondered. I already knew the answer, but I couldn't help but beg the question. _

_ "Vampires," Kurt said from behind me. I didn't know that he was standing there and he made me jump and I fell over as a result. I cut my arm on the desk that I fell on. _

_ My arm is bleeding pretty badly, but I think that I'll live once I get a few stitches. The only unfortunate thing is that it stings like hell. I looked toward Brittany, but she's not there. _

_ "Brittany?" I called. "Brittany, I need some help." _

_ "Brittany's not here right now," Quinn said as she moved at a lightening fast speed from across the room to where I'm standing. _

_ "Where is she?" I wondered as my heart began to beat harder and faster than before. No one answered my question. _

_ I held my bleeding arm to stop the bleeding, but I'm unsuccessful. I then noticed that I'm suddenly surrounded by vampires with a bloody arm. Crap. _

_ I stood up; not that running would do any good against vampires. I had to try though. I booked it toward the door, but before I could get there, Puck stood blocking my path. _

_ I turned around and found myself face-to-face with Quinn. The last thing that I saw was the black abyss of her eyes and the shine of her white teeth. _

* * *

I woke up with a light scream. I looked over at my door hoping that my parents didn't hear that. After about two minutes I realized that they weren't coming. I sat up in my bed and laughed to myself. I can't believe that I just had a dream where my girlfriend's siblings are all vampires. That's completely ridiculous.

I laid my head back down on my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping that I can get some sleep before the sun rises. Before I could actually go to sleep, I heard a loud sound from inside my room. I opened my eyes and sat up to see what it was.

I then noticed that my window is open. I don't remember my window being open before. I freaked out momentarily. I grabbed my softball bat from my closet and held it close to me. I thought for sure that someone is in my room.

I looked around my room for the intruder, but no one is there. I then noticed that there is a blank envelope on my nightstand. I opened it up and inside is a letter:

**Santana,**

**Stay away from my sister. You don't want to be apart of this. Just remember that you've been given a fair warning. When things get weird or go wrong, you have no one to blame but yourself.**

** ~ Quinn ~**

While my heart is still racing from being completely freaked out by the idea that someone was in my room just moments ago without me knowing it, I feel somewhat better because I know that it was Quinn and not some strange person that I don't know.

I set the letter down on my nightstand. My hand is shaking from the fear the still pulsed through my veins. I couldn't help but feel afraid, even though I know that it is Quinn.

I want to like Brittany's family, I really do, but I can't deal with this if they're going to be creeping around my house at night. I don't want to cause problems for Brittany and her family, so I won't tell Brittany that Quinn did this. I shook at the thought of causing Brittany problems with her family.

I placed my bat next to me in my bed and I went back to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review this chapter and let me know what your opinions are =)

The song for this chapter is "Strange Life" - Tickle Me Pink 


	3. Head Over Feet

**Author's Note:  
Hey all, thanks for sticking around for chapter three. Things are about to change. Santana is going to find out that secret that Brittany's family has been keeping. Will she be able to handle the truth? Let's find out. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee nor any of its characters.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**3. Head Over Feet **

It's been just over a week since Quinn left that rather disturbing note on my nightstand. I've tried to be forgiving and nice, but she creeps me out a little bit. Quinn always gives me a weird look like I don't belong, or like I'm a disease or something. Plus, the idea of her being in my room in the middle of the night while I was sleeping is just creepy. I slept with my bat in my bed for a few days after that experience.

I still haven't told Brittany about the note and I probably won't. Like I've said before, I just don't want to cause problems for her and her family. I know that they are all close and I don't want to break that bond.

Even though I know that Quinn hates me, I think that I've grown on Kurt and Blaine. They actually hang out around me, talk to me, and treat me like I'm another human being. Puck avoids me, but he's not mean to me, he just doesn't really talk to me. All in all, I consider this progress.

I was hoping that I would be able to get all of Brittany's family members to like me before I fell completely head over heels for her, but I guess I can't be that lucky. I've known Brittany for a mere two weeks and I feel like I already love her. I want to tell her that, but I'm afraid to.

I know what you're thinking, "okay chicken shit, just say it," but I can't. It's a mixture of family drama and timing. I don't know if it's too early to say something like that. Also, I don't want to even begin to think of the consequential Domino effect that would result from saying those three words. Her family already doesn't feel too great about me and I think that saying "I love you" might just make things worse.

I hate having to think so hard about doing something so simple. I want to just forget about her damn family and say it for her, but I know how much her family means to her. If Brittany's family is important to her, they're important to me and I can't just forget about them.

Today, I'm going over to Brittany's house. Brittany and I have been together practically every day this week. Today I'm going over to her house to hang out by the pool with her. I usually avoid her house and try to get her to go out somewhere else with me because of Quinn, but that doesn't always work out.

I don't even have to sneak out to see Brittany anymore. My parents are used to the daily ritual of me going to hang out with her every day. I'm just glad that I don't have to be sneaky anymore because I'm just not that ninja.

I put my blue and white stripped bikini and put on some shorts and a t-shirt on over it. I wouldn't bother with the t-shirt, but I haven't met Brittany's parents yet and I don't want to run into them with practically nothing on.

I grabbed a towel and walked out the door, got in my car, and drove off to Brittany's house. I parked right in front of Brittany's house, stepped out, and walked to her front door. I knocked on the door. The door was answered by Blaine.

"Hey Blaine," I greeted.

"Hey, what's up Santana?" Blaine said as he stepped aside to let me in.

I walked inside, "Not much, where's Brittany?"

"She's just getting dressed, she'll be down in a second," Blaine explained.

"How's life?" I wondered even though I'd just seen him yesterday.

"It's funny that you ask. I met this really hot girl last night at the club. Yeah, we're totally going out tomorrow," a smile grew across Blaine's face.

"Nice, but what cute girl in her right mind would go out with you," I joked.

Blaine pushed me lightly, "Hey, hey, hey, I've got skills."

"Sure, of the extremely gay variety," I laughed.

"Ah, you caught you me," Blaine pretended to be disappointed.

Brittany then entered the room. "Santana!" Brittany practically yelled in excitement as she walked over and wrapped her arms around me.

"Hey Britt," I said as she pulled away slightly and leaned down to kiss me.

"Oh, come on. Could you warn a guy before you do that?" Blaine said as he began to walk out of the room.

"Sorry Blaine," I said without a care because I know that he's just joking.

"Get a life, Blaine," Brittany laughed.

"Get a room, Brittany," Blaine rebutted.

Brittany wrapped her hand in mine, "So, do you want to go down to the pool?"

I simply nodded in excitement. Brittany led me down a set of stairs. We walked through her kitchen and standing in the kitchen are her parents.

"Brittany," her father said in a clam voice.

"Oh, hey dad, mom," Brittany said as she let go of my hand.

I smiled in an attempt to be friendly, "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Schuster." Although Brittany's last name is Pierce, that's simply because she was adopted. Her adoptive parent's last names are Schuster.

"You must be Santana," Mrs. Schuster said.

"Yeah, it's nice to finally meet you," I said as I reached my hand out. Mr. Schuster shook my hand and Mrs. Schuster did the same.

"Please, call us Emma and William," Mrs. Schuster said.

I could tell that it wasn't going to be hard to get Mrs. Schuster, I mean Emma, to like me. William is a different story all together. I can't tell if he likes me or not, he doesn't really show much emotion. William is tall and has curly brown hair. Emma is about medium height for a girl; she has medium length red hair and has a medium build.

"It is nice to meet you too," William said in a monotone voice.

"We've heard so much about you. Brittany and the kids talk about you all the time. You are much prettier in person than described," Emma said with a smile.

"Thanks," I blushed.

"We're going to go down and hang out by our pool," Brittany explained to try to get us out of there.

William looked at me the entire time I stood there, it was a little awkward. I tried to avoid his stare, but I couldn't avoid it the entire time I stood there. Every once in a while I looked at his unmoving eyes and I felt like I was being scrutinized.

"You two have a good time," Emma offered.

Brittany reached for my hand. I wrapped my hand in hers and we walked to the pool. I've never seen Brittany's pool before. When we walked outside I practically gasped. Her pool is huge! And it's beautiful. I should have expected it though because her whole house is amazing.

"This is _very_ cool," I said as we walked down to the pool. I placed my towel on a nearby patio table. Brittany grabbed a towel from a cabinet near the pool and set it next to mine.

"I'm sorry about the whole awkward meeting the parents moment," Brittany said as she took off her shorts.

"Eh, it wasn't that bad," I said as I took off my clothes. "But, I did feel like your father could kill me with his stare."

"He has that effect on most people," Brittany laughed as she took off her shirt.

I looked over at Brittany who is now stripped down to just a bikini. I didn't want to stare at her amazing body, but I couldn't really help it. Brittany had on a royal blue bikini and she looked amazing in it. Her pearl white skin shines in the sunlight. Her beautiful blonde hair falls perfectly over her shoulders and is in perfect contrast to her soft skin.

"You're beautiful," I said trying to not make it sound like I'm drooling over her.

Brittany looked me up and down "You're pretty damn hot yourself," she said with a wink.

The one thing that I really like about Brittany is that she is willing to say things exactly the way she thinks them. I wish that I was that brave, but I'm too concerned with acceptance to actually say what's on my mind the way that I think it. I'm constantly censoring myself. Which I guess is good sometimes because I don't exactly think nice things all the time.

"I'll race you to the pool," Brittany challenged. I immediately took off into a sprint toward the pool. Brittany and I hit the water at about the same time.

I was the first to resurface. When Brittany came up, she came up with a mouth full of water. She then spat it out at me.

"Oh no you didn't," I said as I splashed her.

"Oh yes, I did," Brittany splashed me back.

I swam over to Brittany and I dunked her. She resurface and returned the favor. Then the chase was on. Brittany started to swim after me and I swam as fast as I could in the other direction. Eventually I was at the pool's edge. I knew that there was nowhere to go, so I just accepted the fact that Brittany is going to catch me. I turned around and I saw that Brittany is right in front of me. Brittany put her hands on the pool's edge under my arms so that I wouldn't fall down; she was basically holding me up.

"Gotcha," Brittany said just before our lips met.

Brittany pulled herself away for a moment. I knew that it was now or never. It is the perfect moment to say it and I know that this opportunity probably won't come again for a while.

"I love you," I said through an uneven breath.

"I love you too," Brittany replied as our lips met again.

Brittany's breath is a perfect, minty fresh taste. Her scent, though clouded with chlorine, is a perfect light lavender. I didn't really want for this moment to end, but there is something that I've been dying to do.

"You know what I kind of want to do?" I asked as I pulled my face away from Brittany's.

"What?"

"Jump off the high dive."

"Okay," Brittany laughed as she moved to the right of me.

Yes, Brittany's pool has a high dive. Her pool is 12 feet deep all throughout and it has a slide and a high dive. It's basically a professional pool.

I hopped out of the pool, but Brittany made it up the high dive latter before me. Brittany jumped off the high dive with grace. She is so good that I'm sure she could dive professionally.

"Show off," I smirked.

"Hey! Don't make fun of the diving master!" Brittany shouted back up to me.

"Oh, so you're the diving master eh?" I joked.

Brittany quickly swam out of my way. After Brittany was safely out of my way, I backed up to the edge of the high dive and I ran to jump of the other end, but I slipped and I hit my head on the diving platform. I passed out before I hit the water.

I felt like I was in a dark abyss. I couldn't feel anything, see anything, or even breathe. It was like existence had faded to nothingness.

* * *

"Santana," I can hear Brittany's voice call me from the darkness, but I can't see her. "San, wake up baby, please wake up."

I felt pain radiating through my body. I then coughed up some water and was able to breathe again. Each breath came with an excruciating amount of pain. My lungs felt like they had just been cleaned out with sandpaper. I can see a blurry outline that looks like Brittany, but it hurt to keep my eyes open. I took in a few deep breaths, but it hurt to use my lungs.

"We should get her to a hospital," a voice called. I couldn't tell who the voice belonged to, but I know that it's not Brittany.

I wanted to say that I'm fine. I really hate hospitals and I would rather not go if it's at all avoidable. I tried to open my eyes again. This time I was actually successful in keeping my eyes open. Hovering above me are the members of Brittany's family. Brittany is on her knees by my side. I started to regain feeling in my limbs. I noticed that Brittany is holding my hand.

"Santana, are you awake sweetie?" Brittany asked practically in tears as she caressed one of her hands under my chin.

I managed to breath, "Yeah."

"Should I call an ambulance?" Puck asked William.

"Yeah, that would be best," William replied. Puck then disappeared from sight.

It's still hard for me to breathe and I can't seem to keep a constant train of thought. My eyes want to just shut and let sleep come, but I didn't want to sleep.

"Hey, Santana, it's Emma. I need you to listen to me, okay? You can't close your eyes. You might have a concussion," Emma explained.

I don't think that she can quite fathom how hard it is for me to keep my eyes open. I want to keep my eyes open, but slowly sleep wants to creep in on me. I could feel Brittany's grasp on my hand tighten after Emma spoke. I wanted to grip Brittany's hand back, but I could barely move. I'm already using all of my will power to keep my eyes open. I'm afraid of refocusing my attention, but I have to. I want Brittany to know that I'm okay despite my not being able to speak, move, or breathe well. Slowly, but surely, my hand wrapped around Brittany's.

"You're going to be okay baby, you're going to be okay," Brittany comforted.

I started to feel a little better. I was able to feel more parts of my body and breathing became somewhat easier. However, every good thing comes with something bad. As I started to be able to feel more parts of my body, I could also feel a sharp throbbing feeling on my forehead – as if all of the pain flashing through my body wasn't already enough. It was only then that I realized that someone is holding a cloth on my forehead.

Then, two men came running to my side. "We need some room," one of them explained. I assume that they're EMTs. One of the EMTs removed the cloth from my forehead and replaced it with gauze. The other EMT is checking my vital signs. To tell the truth, everything that the EMTs are doing is making me far more stressed out than just knowing that I could have died if they hadn't come.

"Can you speak?" one EMT asked. I wanted to roll my eyes at him or something, but I didn't even have the power to do that.

"We're going to take you to Chicago Health, okay?" the EMT stated.

I don't know why he asked me if it was okay to take me to the hospital. He already knows that I can't answer any questions because I can't really talk. The EMTs loaded me onto a stretcher. They then prepared to wheel me to the hospital.

"Are any of you coming with?" the EMT asked.

"I am," Brittany said as she followed close behind the EMTs.

Before I knew it, I was being loaded into the ambulance. I watched as one of the EMTs and Brittany climbed into the back of the ambulance with me. I felt myself lose control of my body as it began to uncontrollably convulse.

"She's shaking," Brittany pointed out to the EMT. Her voice seemed distant and far away.

"She's having a seizure," the EMT said as he put an oxygen mask on me and attempted to stop my convulsing. "Does she have a history of seizures?"

"Not as far as I know," Brittany replied.

That's as much as I remember before I blacked out again.

* * *

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

I opened my eyes, but my eye lids felt like fifty pound weights. When I finally opened my eyes all the way, I saw my mother sitting at my side.

"Mom," I can't believe that I was able to speak.

"Santana? You're awake!" my mom said as she stood up with tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine, where's Br-Dad?" I wondered. I almost said Brittany. My parents don't know that I'm going out with Brittany and if they did, they would probably disown me. My parents are the scary religious types and I'm…not. They can't know that I'm seeing Brittany, or things are going to get hairy.

"He's getting some coffee. I'm going to get a doctor," my mom said as she left the room.

I sat up in my bed and looked around the room. On the table near the foot of my bed, there were flowers and cards. After a few seconds of waiting, my mom and a doctor entered the room.

"What's up doc?" I asked.

"We're just going to run some tests to check for brain damage and then we're going to run an MRI to insure that there's no permanent damage," the doctor said.

"Sounds like fun," I sighed.

"Okay, so what's your name?" the doctor asked.

"Santana Marie Lopez."

"What's your birthday?"

"May 22," I hate these stupid questions. For God's sake, if there is any damage, I don't feel it.

"I'm going to ask you to remember three things for me: house, duck, and pencil. Can you remember those things for me?"

"House, duck, pencil, got it," I replied a little annoyed.

"Who is the current president of the United States?"

"Barak Obama."

"What year is it?"

"2013."

"What were those three things that I asked you to remember?"

"House, duck, and pencil."

"There doesn't seem to be any brain damage, but we're still going to run an MRI just to be safe. When all of the tests are complete, you're free to go," the doctor said as he walked out of the room.

"Thank you doctor," I heard my mom whisper to him as he left.

Just as the doctor left the room, my dad entered the room. "At least she's awake," he said as he handed my mom a coffee.

"My friend, Brittany, rode in the ambulance with me. Where is she?" I wondered. I hate hospitals and her being here would help me to feel less stressed out.

"They're only letting family visit with you right now," my dad said.

"But I need her," I accidently said. I should have used better words, damn you brain!

"You _need_ her?" my dad repeated.

"Yeah, can you please see if they'll let her in here?" I begged.

My dad folded his arms across his chest, "What do you mean that you _need_ her?"

Well, I guess if there was ever a time to spill the beans, it's now, "I love her, Dad." I can't believe I just said that. I really must have brain damage. That doc should get back in here and re-examine me.

"You what!" he yelled.

"What do you mean you love her?" my mom is just as furious as my dad.

I know that there are going to be some consequences for this one, "Brittany and I have been dating since graduation. I-I love her." What in God's name? Why do I just keep saying words? Brain, please stop. Stop now before anything gets worse.

"You," my dad said as his face grew redder and redder, "You are not my daughter." This is what I meant by worse. Good going brain.

See, I knew that they would disown me. Eh, it's not like I didn't see this one coming. This isn't a big surprise. The only problem will be finding a place to live and paying for this hospital stay. I don't exactly have a job this summer because I have college stuff to prep for. I have over fifteen thousand saved up, but I was hoping to use that for college.

"How could you do this to our family?" my mom wondered.

"I didn't do anything to anyone," I defended.

"Come on, we're leaving," my dad said as he left the room with my mom. I slumped back on my bed. That hurt just a little more than I thought. I mean, I love my parents, but I think that love is almost more out of obligation than actual love. They have never really treated me like a daughter. They prefer to pretend that I don't exist. I didn't think that it would really hurt for them to just pretend like I don't exist to a higher degree, but it did. Those few words made my body feel numb, or maybe that's just all of these pain meds.

After ten minutes, a nurse came into the room to check up on me, "How are you doing?"

"Good, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor. My, um, cousin is in the lobby. My parents didn't want anyone else here while they were here, but they're gone and she's probably still waiting. I was with her when this happened and I just want to see her," I asked with a weak voice so the nurse would feel sorry for me.

"What's her name?" the nurse asked.

"Brittany Pierce," I stated. "Thanks." The nurse nodded, checked my IV and left. Five or so minutes later Brittany entered the room. It's like I haven't seen her in weeks. Even though her hair looked like she hadn't done anything to it since she got out of the pool and her makeup is smeared across her face, she looks absolutely beautiful.

"Hey Santana, how are you doing?" Brittany asked as she walked to my side.

"I hate hospitals, but otherwise, the doctor said that I probably don't have any brain damage, so yay," I smirked.

"You're a nut," Brittany said as she sat down on the edge of my bed.

"It's like you don't know me at all," I laughed.

Brittany leaned down and kissed my cheek, "I know you all too well."

"I'm sorry that I'm such a klutz," I said as Brittany wrapped her fingers in mine.

"You don't have to be sorry," Brittany stated. "Um, so I saw your parents leave. Do they have to be somewhere or…?"

"Or they just left," I interrupted with a hint of melancholy in my voice.

A surprised look spread across Brittany's face, "They just left?"

"Yup… They didn't exactly know that we're dating. My parents are very anti-gay. I knew that there would be some serious repercussions if I told them, but I needed to see you, so they found out. They then disowned me and left," I explained.

"That's why they gave me a really dirty look on their way out," Brittany shrugged. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I guess that I'm going to have to find my own place. I hope that they'll let me go back home to get some of my things, but I wouldn't count on it," I sighed. I moved over a little bit to allow room for Brittany to lie down next to me. I patted the bed where I had just made room. She took the hint and lied down on the bed, but she could only lie down on her side because there's not enough room for two people on this bed.

Brittany wrapped her arm around my waist, "I'm so sorry baby."

"It's not your fault that my parents are meany faces."

Brittany laughed at me, "Meany faces? I love the way you speak."

"Thanks for being here for me," I said as I ran my hand down Brittany's arm.

"Of course. I'll always be here for you. I love you. You can ask my brothers or sister, I don't say I love you when I don't mean it."

"You're the only person that I've ever met that has made me feel this good about myself," I smiled.

"You're the only person I've met that I know undoubtedly loves me as much as I love you."

"Are your parents going to let you stay here with me?" I wondered hoping that she didn't have to go anytime soon.

"Puck and Blaine came by a little while ago to drop off my car. I get to stay as long as I want."

I sighed with relief, "Cool."

"I was so worried about you. I thought that I lost you there for a second after I pulled you out," Brittany said a little teary eyed.

"Please don't cry, you'll make me cry," I said as I wiped a tear away. "I don't really remember much of what happened. All I remember is running to jump off the high dive, biting it, and then I remember the moments just before the EMTs came and part of the ambulance ride."

"That's more than I thought that you'd remember," Brittany said.

"You're the reason that I kept my eyes open. Your mom told me to keep my eyes open because of a possible concussion, so I just kept looking at you. The reason for me being alive is you."

"I'm here to help," Brittany smirked.

I sighed, "I just want to get this MRI over with so I can go…well somewhere."

"Why do they need to do and MRI, I thought you said that you were fine," Brittany said worried. Brittany sat up a little bit.

"I'm fine; they said that the MRI is to make sure that they didn't miss anything. It's basically just to confirm that I'm okay."

Brittany let go of the breath she was holding, "Don't scare me like that." Brittany relaxed a little.

"Oh, I should probably tell you that I had to tell the nurse that you're my cousin so that she'd let you in here," I explained.

"I figured that you told her something like that to get them to let me in here," Brittany shook her head in slight disbelief.

Then, there were three short knocks on the door. Brittany quickly sat up so that she's only sitting on the edge of the bed. "Come in!" I said as loud as I could. A doctor walked inside. This isn't the same doctor from earlier.

"Hello Santana, my name is Dr. Schaefer and I'm here to take you down to get your MRI," Dr. Schaefer explained.

"Is it okay if Brittany comes with?" I wondered.

"If it's okay with you, it's okay with me," Dr. Schaefer said. "Can you help me; we're just going to get Santana out of the bed and into this wheelchair."

Brittany nodded her head. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of my bed. With Brittany on one side and Dr. Schaefer on the other, they each supported one side of me and helped me into the wheelchair. I didn't really need all of the help, I could walk fine on my own, but they insisted.

Brittany wheeled me down the hall and the doctor led us into a room with a large machine that I assume is the MRI machine.

"Now we're just going to help her up," Dr. Schaefer stated. I used the support of Brittany and Dr. Schaefer to stand on my own two feet. Then, with their help, I was able to get myself on the table that goes into the MRI machine. Okay, maybe I did need their help after all. I have no clue what all of the technical terms for this stuff is. All I know is that the machine is going to take a picture of my brain to make sure it isn't mush.

"So, now what?" I wondered as I lied down.

"Now you're going to try to stay as still as possible while we scan your head," Dr. Schaefer stated like it was no big deal. "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to step outside of the room while the test is taking place."

I hate these huge machines. I've seen them before on the medical shows on TV; therefore, I know that they don't do anything that might hurt me, but they're still a little terrifying. I saw Brittany and Dr. Schaefer leave the room. I felt the table that I'm on move and slowly slid me into the machine.

"Remember to stay still," I could hear Dr. Schaefer's voice command.

I remained unmoving and the machine made a few scary scanning sounds, like a printer on steroids. It seriously sounded like I was in a human-sized Xerox machine.

"Okay, we're all finished," Dr. Schaefer's voice said over the intercom. I then felt the table that I'm on move me back out of the machine.

Once I was out of the machine, I could see Dr. Schaefer entering the room. "So what's the damage report?" I wondered as I sat up on my own.

"There isn't one. You didn't suffer any brain damage and you'll be just fine," Dr. Schaefer said as he opened the door Brittany left out of. Dr. Schaefer waved Brittany inside. Brittany walked in and stopped at my side.

"Is everything okay?" Brittany wondered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied.

"Okay, so you're going to need to take it easy for a few days. Even though you don't have any brain damage, you took a pretty hard hit to the head. I want you to get plenty of rest and hydrate as much as possible," Dr. Schafer then pulled out two prescription pill bottles. "You need to take one of the pink pills every six hours until they're gone. They are amoxicillin pills and are used to prevent infection. You should take one of these oxycodone pills every four to six hours for pain. You must take your amoxicillin, but only take the oxycodone as needed. There are directions on the bottles."

Dr. Schaefer handed me the bottles. "Is that everything?" I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want to talk anymore, I just want to leave.

"Yeah, that's it, you're free to go," Dr. Schaefer smiled. He then held out his hand to help me into my wheel chair.

"Do I really have to use the wheel chair?" I really don't want to be wheeled around all day.

"I would recommend it at least for the first day. Try to stay off of your feet as much as possible. After that, if you feel like you don't need it, you can attempt to walk on your own," Dr. Schaefer explained.

I handed the pill bottles to Brittany. Brittany placed them in her purse and then Brittany and the doctor helped me into the wheel chair. Brittany then wheeled me out of the room.

"Do you want to get changed into something else?" Brittany offered.

"Like what? I came here in my bikini. I don't exactly want to leave here in it. Plus, I don't think that my parents brought me a change of clothes," I sighed.

"Oh, um, well, we can go to my house and I can lend you some clothes and we can go to your house to pick up your things," Brittany suggested.

"I still don't know where I'm going to stay. I guess it's going to be a hotel tonight and tomorrow, who knows," I started to think aloud as we entered an elevator.

"You're kidding, right? There's no way that I'm letting you stay at a hotel. If my parents won't let you stay in my room, then there's a loft above the club that we rent out. It's empty right now, so I'm sure that they'd let you rent it."

"Are you sure, you don't have to do all of that for me," I don't want Brittany to go out of her way to help me through this.

"It's not a problem baby. I love you and I'm going to do everything that I can to take care of you," Brittany assured me as we exited the elevator on the bottom floor of the hospital.

"I love you too, but I don't want to be a burden on your family," I think that I'm doing a crappy job of arguing my case. It's not that I don't want Brittany helping me out or that I don't want to move in with her, it's just that I don't want her family to hate me anymore than some of them already do.

"You won't be," Brittany assured me, but I'm not so sure.

Brittany then wheeled me out of the hospital and into the parking lot. Her car was parked in one of the closest spaces. I love Brittany's car, but then again, who wouldn't? Brittany has a Ferrari California. It's amazing.

Brittany opened the passenger door and helped me inside. I don't really feel like I need all of this help doing things, but I can't complain. Brittany then folded up the wheel chair and put it in the back of the car and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Have I ever told you that I feel like a rock star when I'm in this car with you?" I asked Brittany as she put the car in drive.

Brittany laughed a little, "Nope, but I can honestly say that I have the same feeling. I love this car."

"I need to thank your brothers for dropping this off when we get back," I said aloud so I wouldn't forget. Okay, that's a lie, I just want Brittany to remind me later because I have a feeling like all of these pain meds are going to prevent me from remembering things. I don't react to drugs well.

A wide grin grew across Brittany's face as we drove out of the city. I can't imagine that it will take us long to get to her house from where we are, maybe ten minutes. Then again, traffic through the city is a bitch. Well, I guess it depends on what day it is and what time of day it is. I'm embarrassed to ask Brittany what day it is because I feel like I should know this. However, the time is ten in the morning, so I guess that's one reason for there being no people out and about.

I was right; we were back at Brittany's house in no time flat. We pulled up to her house and into the garage. There are so many cars in the garage that the garage has a dun waiter sort of thing. Basically, it's a piece of machinery that allows for two levels of cars to be put in the garage three at a time. It's pretty cool. I know that I'm not describing it right, but I'm not very technically savvy, so…yeah.

Brittany helped me out of the car. Brittany had the wheelchair in one arm and was helping me stand up in the other. We had to walk up a small set of stairs to get into the house. Brittany stopped and let me lean on the railing for the set of three stairs.

"Okay, so just let me do all of the talking to convince them," Brittany instructed.

"Not a problem," I said a little worried.

Brittany turned my head toward her and kissed me, "You need to relax a little more often."

I took in a deep breath, "I'll try."

Brittany smiled and shook her head as if she knew that I wasn't going to be able to. She then walked up the stairs, put the wheel chair down, propped the door open, came back down the stairs and helped me up the stairs. While I don't think that walking in general is a big deal, going up the stairs sucked. I felt bad for Brittany because she had to support practically all of my weight as we slowly moved up each stair. It's mostly because I have a hard time feeling my joints; thank you prescription medication.

Despite it being rather difficult, we made it up the stairs and Brittany helped me into the wheel chair. I'm still in my hospital wear and I really want to get out of it and change into something that's comfy.

"Okay, so I'm going to run upstairs and grab you some clothes. What do you want to wear?" Brittany wondered as wheeled me to the bottom of the stairs.

"Something comfortable; maybe just some sweatpants and a t-shirt," I replied.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Brittany said right before she ran up the stairs. She was down in a flash.

Brittany had a pair of sweatpants and a vintage Metallica t-shirt. "Can I get changed in the restroom?"

"Go for it," Brittany replied as she set the clothes in my lap. "Um, do you need any, um, help?"

"No, I think I can handle it," I laughed as I wheeled myself into the restroom just a few yards away from the bottom of the stairs. Although getting up the stairs was a rather daunting task, getting dressed wasn't all that bad. I managed to get the clothes on without having to ask for help, thank God. I then threw the hospital clothing in the bathroom trashcan. I then wheeled myself back out. Brittany is waiting for me.

"I can't believe it, you still look hot even though you're in sweatpants and an old t-shirt," Brittany smirked as she knelt down to kiss me.

I saw Kurt enter the room so I pulled my head away from Brittany. "So, should we go talk to your parents?"

"Probably," I could tell that Brittany didn't want to have this conversation, but I knew that there was no stopping her either.

"Talk to them about what?" Kurt asked.

"You can come with if you want to know Mr. Nosey-Pants," Brittany said as she wheeled me into the living room where her parents are. Quinn and Puck both walked into the room at the same time as we did. Great, just great, I don't want for everyone to be here while we talk to Emma and William about possibly housing me.

"Are you sure about this?" I wondered as we entered the room.

"Positive," Brittany replied without hesitation.

Quinn rolled her eyes and sighed when she realized that I'm here. Puck waved with a half-hearted smile.

"Santana, how are you dear?" Emma wondered as she walked over toward me.

"The docs say that I'm going to be just fine," I said through uneven breaths. I'm really nervous about the conversation that's about to take place.

Emma hugged me, "That's great news. We were all so worried about you."

I'm sure that some of them were. I looked over at Quinn and she was staring me down, her eyes full what seems to be anger.

"We actually have something that we wanted to ask you," Brittany began.

Emma walked back to the couch to sit next to William. William is now interested in the conversation, he looked up at Brittany with inquiring eyes and said, "Yes, what is it?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story. Santana never really told her parents that we were seeing each other, but for good reason, they're very against the idea of homosexuality. When we were at the hospital, Santana wanted to see me so she told her parents that she loves me and they…" Brittany began.

"Freaked," I finished.

"Yeah, so they basically disowned her and left her at the hospital."

Emma's expression is filled of empathy and utter shock, "They did not leave you at the hospital."

"Yeah, they did. Um, my parents aren't exactly Mr. and Mrs. Brady if you know what I mean," I commented.

"So, I was wondering if Santana can stay with us," Brittany suggested.

Quinn's expression grew from angered to disgusted, "You can't be serious!"

"Quinn, shut up," Kurt warned.

"What, I don't have a right to speak now? You know that having her here can be dangerous," Quinn rebutted. I'm really confused.

"Quinn's not wrong," William stated.

Blaine walked into the room, "Did I miss something?"

"Brittany wants Santana to live here with us," Puck filled Blaine in.

"Oh," was Blaine's reply.

"I'm confused," I whispered to Brittany.

"Okay, well, if you would like for Santana to stay here with us, you must tell her and explain why staying here might not be the best option," William stated.

"You're kidding!" Quinn is still clearly upset.

"Nope, I think that these two are really in love, and if that's the case, then Brittany should be able to make the choice," William replied.

"I'm still confused," I whispered to Brittany again.

Brittany walked out from behind my wheelchair. She stood in front of me and took in a deep breath, "I have to tell you something about me and my family."

Brittany turned around for a moment. "What's wrong?" I wondered.

"You can't see me like this," Brittany replied unmoving. "I'm sorry, I can't…I can't do this."

"Why don't you want her to see you like this, Brittany?" Quinn inquired. "It's who you really are."

"Shut up," Brittany warned.

I'm having a serious déjà vu moment. Except, this isn't something that I've seen or done before, it's something that I've dreamt before. It was a little different in my dream, but it was also really similar. The words had similar meanings, but the ambiance and setting was different.

"She should know, Brittany. She deserves to know what she's getting herself into," Puck followed.

"No, not yet, she doesn't have to know," Brittany repeated.

Quinn's face suddenly became very serious, "If you won't tell her, I will."

"Don't!" Brittany said as she turned around.

If this is the same as what happened in my dream, then they're about to tell me that they're a family of vampires, but that's not possible.

When Brittany turned around her eyes are black like in my dream. She also had long, sharp canine teeth. I looked around at Brittany's family, a little terrified. Everyone's eyes and teeth are the same as Brittany's. I pushed myself backward in the wheelchair a little bit to get ready to make a run for it.

"No, Santana, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Brittany said as she took a step toward me.

I stopped moving backward. Although I am absolutely terrified of some of Brittany's family, I can't be afraid of her. Even though it looks like she could kill me right now if she wanted to, I know in my heart that she wouldn't. I wheeled forward to let Brittany know that I'm not afraid.

Brittany continued to cautiously walk toward me until she is face to face with me. "I'm sorry," I practically whispered. "I shouldn't have doubted that you wouldn't hurt me. I was just a little scared. I'm sorry. I love you."

"It's okay, I was expecting a worse reaction," Brittany stated as she wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm still a little afraid of your siblings," I said even quieter. Seriously, this is some freaky déjà vu.

Brittany shrugged, "Me too." Brittany still didn't let go of me.

"So, does this mean that you're vampires?" I wondered. I already knew the answer, but I couldn't help but beg the question.

"Yes, we're vampires," Kurt said from behind me.

My dream just became a reality. I'm glad that this reveal didn't include Quinn trying to kill me, that's a plus. Brittany unwrapped her arms from around my shoulders. When she pulled away, her eyes are still black and her teeth are still vamped out.

Even though Brittany has the whole creature-of-the-night look going for her, I didn't see her like that. I could still see her brilliant blue eyes and normal smile despite the whole vampire thing. Then, like magic, her teeth and eyes turned back to normal.

"Now, the rest is up to you. Do you want to stay with us, or do you want to leave?" William inquired.

He didn't even need to ask, I already know what my decision is.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know your opinions about this chapter and the work in general. I hope y'all liked it! =)

"Head Over Feet" Alanis Morissette


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